BEAUTYTUDES: Hypnotic notes from Odesza – “It’s Only”

I’m in one of those moods… when I wish I still lived near the beach and could lie out on the sand under a full moon, listen to this song and just float out into orbit for a while. The right music can do that to you. I get nothing short of a natural high when a powerful bassline, a string of minor key notes, and lyrics that echo feelings that I simply cannot express combine to put me in a trance.

I first discovered this song on Pandora after a particularly painful tangle in one of Cupid’s webs… And it’s ironic that, while the song causes me to immediately recall the pain of the encounter, it also brings to mind an overwhelming sense of wonder, freedom, and love. Maybe it’s due to the rawness of feeling that only comes from acting with complete vitality and authenticity… It’s a good memory. It’s a really good memory.

And hey, you know what? It’s crazy how jarring song lyrics can be when you READ them and find out what is actually being said. For the record, I do not identify literally with the lyrics… only in a poetic, “death/ending is a changing of the seasons” sort of way.

I do wonder, though, is Lust simply a form of Loneliness, as the lyrics seem to imply? What do you think?

LYRICS

I heard the news today;
That you’re not mine to keep.
Don’t struggle too much now
While I kill you in your sleep.

What is lust if it’s not being by yourself?
I won’t be gentle to the body on the shelf

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only slaughter
We’re only liars
It’s only blood

They’re only thoughts that I’m having;
Thoughts safe within my head.
You’re only crying
You’re only dying
You’re only dead.

I heard the news today,
That you weren’t mine to save
I hope that you’re comfortable
In the quiet lasting grave

What is lust if it’s not being by yourself?
I won’t be gentle to the body on the shelf.

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only slaughter
We’re only liars
It’s only blood

They’re only thoughts that I’m having;
Thoughts safe within my head.
You’re only crying
You’re only dying
You’re only dead

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

It’s only slaughter
We’re only liars
It’s only blood

They’re only thoughts that I’m having;
Thoughts safe within my head.
You’re only crying
You’re only dying
You’re only dead

Whoooaa! Okay, hold up. I had to come back for a minute after listening to the song AGAIN. Those lyrics are just too loaded with symbolism to leave my previous post as is. Here’s my interpretation of the parts of the song which touched me the most:

I heard the news today;
That you’re not mine to keep.

Isn’t this always such an unfortunate discovery? Though the better part of our brain knows that we cannot possibly possess another person’s body, heart, and mind, or control their evolution, we are nonetheless caught off guard when someone evolves beyond or simply leaves us (physically or emotionally). Such a thing should not be “news” at all.

Don’t struggle too much now
While I kill you in your sleep.

Upon getting the news that love (or the thing which made us comfortable) is no more, we are sometimes compelled to simply kill and bury the memory of it. Or at least we attempt to. We’d rather not struggle with it coming up over and over again to taunt us.

What is lust if it’s not being by yourself?

The longing for something is a glaring indication of the fact that you do not have it. It is out of reach somehow. You are separated from the thing you want, and you, therefore feel alone in some way.

I won’t be gentle to the body on the shelf

You feel it necessary to kill the thought, the longing, the memory as aggressively as possible.

It’s only water
It’s only fire
It’s only love

Sarcasm, cynicism. You play it off. You act as if these things which are fundamental to life are no big deal. You can do without them.

It’s only slaughter
We’re only liars
It’s only blood

This kind of thing happens everyday. Hearts break. We’ll get over it.

They’re only thoughts that I’m having;
Thoughts safe within my head.

Now maybe the song’s writer really WAS dreaming of offing somebody with whom things simply did not work out, but had no plans of actually doing it. I won’t touch that.

To me, it speaks to the myriad things we dream up, the lustful thoughts we hide, all the secret daydreams we keep locked away in our heads and never allow to see the light of day. We think the recesses of our minds are safe hiding places…

You’re only crying
You’re only dying
You’re only dead

Wait… now he’s/she’s really gone…

Who knows if the writers actually meant anything close to my interpretation. But that’s the beauty of art. The person enjoying it can take away from it whatever lessons are made available in the moment, whatever makes sense to him or her.